Farro with Mushrooms

This farro with mushrooms recipe takes the chewy whole grain to a new heights! It’s sauteed with garlic, fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese.

When Alex and I first started cooking together, we discovered farro. This chewy ancient grain has a texture similar to barley, but it’s much quicker to cook. We whipped up a batch of farro with tender roasted vegetables and took a bite. Hey, that’s actually really good! Since then, we love cooking up a batch as a healthy side dish or as part of a grain bowl. But guess what? We think⁠—no, we know!⁠—we’ve discovered the most delicious way to eat farro! This farro with mushrooms is bursting with flavor from the savory mushrooms, garlic, and fresh thyme and oregano. Add a spritz of fresh lemon juice and some grated Parmesan cheese and well, its pretty heavenly.

How to make farro with mushrooms

This farro with mushrooms is incredibly flavorful and a total crowd pleaser. Even mushroom haters might be convinced here! The garlic, herbs, and cheese are reminiscent of our Mushroom Pasta with Goat Cheese, which has become a fan favorite. (To be honest, adding a few dollops of creamy goat cheese would send this one over the top!)

This recipe works as a healthy side dish and would work well alongside baked salmon or cedar plank salmon. Or, make it into a vegetarian meal by adding a few salads and cornbread. You can serve it in any season. But to us with the hearty whole grain and dark flavors in the mushrooms, it’s perfect for fall and winter. It also actually work great as a Thanksgiving side dish or for a holiday dinner at Christmas!

Here are the basic steps on how to make this farro with mushrooms recipe (scroll down for the full recipe):

Cook the farro (see below).
Saute minced onion in olive oil until translucent. Add sliced mushrooms and saute. Add minced garlic and chopped herbs and saute.
Add the cooked farro and lemon juice and cook until heated through. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately!

Note: Farro is made of wheat, so it is not gluten-free. If you have sensitivity to gluten but want to make this recipe, it would work well with brown rice or millet.

How to cook farro: 2 methods

Cooking the grain for this farro with mushrooms is very easy: and relatively quick! We love that pearled farro cooks in only 15 to 20 minutes on the stovetop. You can also cook it in an Instant Pot. Here are our two methods:

Stovetop: Add farro to a saucepan along with 3 times the amount of water and a few pinches of salt. Bring to a low boil, then cook uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until the farro is tender.
Instant Pot: Add farro, water and kosher salt to an Instant Pot. Pressure cook on high for 7 minutes and natural release for 7 minutes. With the “preheat” time, this method takes about 20 minutes total and is fully hands off! Go to Instant Pot Farro.

A note: types of farro

You can buy farro as whole, semi-pearled, or pearled. We recommend buying pearled farro for this farro with mushrooms recipe. Why? Pearled farro is the quickest to cook. It’s also likely what you’ll find at the store. If you do buy whole or semi-pearled, the advantage is that it contains even more nutrients (but the difference is not significant, so we go with pearled). To make whole or semi pearled farro cook a little faster, you can soak it for an hour or overnight to speed things up.

Get it! Grab a bag of farro.

This farro with mushrooms recipe is…

Vegetarian.